Cabinet to Consider New Blueprint for Borough

A new draft Local Plan will be put before South Tyneside Council's Cabinet in the New Year.

Members will be asked to approve the updated blueprint for development in the Borough, so that further public consultation can begin.

The Local Plan will provide a framework for where new homes, businesses, shops and leisure facilities will be built up until 2040, and ensure that the right infrastructure, such as roads and schools, is in place to support growth.

The latest 'Regulation 19' publication draft is one of several formal stages that a Local Plan must pass, prior to adoption by the council.

In summer 2022, an eight-week consultation was held on the Regulation 18 draft plan. In total, 1887 individual responses were received. Since then, the plan has been refined to reflect the feedback received, as well as further work being undertaken to build an updated and robust evidence base to support Regulation 19.

As a result, a number of sites, both in the Green Belt, and in the Main Urban Area, identified as potential residential sites in the Regulation 18 draft plan, have been removed and are no longer allocated for housing.

There has also been a reduction in the amount of housing required for the plan period, this is due to changes to the standard method formula used to calculate Local Housing Need and planning permissions granted for housing development since the Regulation 18 consultation. 

This has resulted in the residual housing number decreasing from 4,471 to 3,443 over the plan period.  In addition, the 15% buffer proposed at Regulation 18 will now no longer be included as this would require more land in the Green Belt to be allocated for development.

Cllr Margaret Meling, Lead Member for Economic Growth and Transport, "It's vital that we have an up-to-date plan so that we maintain control over development in the borough; without one, we are vulnerable to speculative development proposals.

"We have listened to what our residents told us during the Regulation 18 consultation, particularly around some council-owned sites, and this version of the plan reflects people's views as much as possible.

"We continue to prioritise and actively promote the development of brownfield sites first, but there is an acute undersupply of land from non-Green Belt sources, so we have had to look at all options to accommodate sustainable development. In this version of the plan, it is proposed that just five per cent of land is removed from the Green Belt."

The latest version of the plan allocates 27 sites which would accommodate 1190 homes in the Main Urban Area, leaving a further 2253 houses to be accommodated outside this area. The plan has also identified land south of Fellgate as a Sustainable Growth Area, which will be allocated for up to 1,200 new homes and supporting community infrastructure. Cabinet will also be asked to approve consultation on an initial scoping report which would help inform a future masterplan.

Cllr Meling added: "A local plan isn't just about building houses; it's about making the borough a thriving and prosperous place.

"It gives us the opportunity to enhance and protect our natural and historic environment and embed policies that mitigate the effects of climate change.

"We want people who grow up in South Tyneside to be able to stay here, with access to affordable housing and skilled jobs. We want to create well designed, sustainable neighbourhoods that last a lifetime."

Subject to cabinet approval of the draft, a six-week public consultation period will follow.

Consultation at Regulation 19 stage is very specific in its remit, and provides the opportunity to comment on whether the plan has been prepared lawfully and whether the policies within it are sound.

Ultimately, the Plan will be submitted to the Secretary of State for a Public Examination before an independent Planning Inspector.